THE 



MONTHLY MAGAZINE 



OF 



POLITICS, LITERATURE, AND THE BELLES LETTRES. 



VOL. XL] FEBRUARY, 1831. . [No. 62. 



EUROPE AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE YEAR 1831. 



THE past year exhibited a state of affairs unexampled since the fall of 

 the Roman empire the supremacy of the multitude ! The origin of all the 

 modern dominations of Europe was in the power of the armed people. 

 The northern tribes who broke down the Roman empire were a populace, 

 warlike, yet but half-armed, and accustomed to obey princes and chief- 

 tains, yet possessed of rights which made them almost independent of 

 authority. They fell upon the tottering mass of the Roman empire with 

 a weight which crushed it ; and from the ruins they raised kingdoms 

 and principalities, in which the sovereign was little more than the chief 

 magistrate, and the government little more than a republic of soldiers. 



In 1 830, the French returned nearly to the model of their ancestors in 

 the sixth century ; by an insurrection of the armed multitude, overthrew 

 the monarchy ; and established a sovereignty in its stead, in which the 

 governor is but the chief magistrate, and the form of the government is, 

 in all but name, republican. 



The example of this powerful and leading people rapidly produced 

 imitators. The people of Brussels mastered the government, defeated 

 its forces, and, establishing the independence of Belgium, fully declared 

 their right to a separate government, a new-modeled constitution, and 

 the choice of a king. 



The next demand of those popular rights was in Switzerland. A 

 peasant army rose, marched into Berne, and obtained all their demands. 

 The facility of their success has made their insurrection obscure ; but the 

 principle of the exertion of popular power to obtain popular rights was 

 amply established. 



The flame now spread to the north ; and, on the 29th of November, 

 the people of Warsaw rose, drove out the Russian garrison, formed a 

 government, and declared the independence of Poland. In the minor 

 German States, the popular spirit not less displayed itself. The people 

 rose in Brunswick, expelled their Duke on the ground of personal inju- 

 ries, and have since finally given over his authority to his brother. The 

 same effervescence exhibited in several of the other principalities, without 

 proceeding to the same length, produced, at least, promises of constitu- 

 tional rights, which, if not performed, will, in all probability, produce 



M. M. New Series. Voi. XL No. 62. R 



